Retro Studios’ Next Game is Something they Proposed to Nintendo, and it Could be a New IP

Retro Studios launched their latest game in February 2014, so they’ve been working on new games for over a year now. In this week’s episode of Nintendo Week, Gamnesia’s Nintendo podcast, we pondered what kind of project Retro Studios is working on—and with good timing, too, seeing as we were joined by Liam Robertson, also known as Tamaki from Unseen64, a freelance games researcher who often uncovers hidden information from within Nintendo.

Check out the discussion video above for our full discussion, or keep reading below for a brief rundown of the news.

In yesterday’s feature from the podcast, Robertson told us that Retro Studios typically gets three chances to pitch a project to Nintendo, and if the concept isn’t greenlit by Nintendo after the third attempt, they’ll be assigned a project that NCL deems more likely to sell well.

I asked him later on whether Retro Studios’ current project is something they pitched to Nintendo, or whether it was a project Nintendo had deemed “safe.”

“I don’t actually know what the project is, exactly, but I know that it is something that Retro themselves pitched. … They came off of Tropical Freeze in very late 2013, I think it was, and they continued throughout 2014 pitching new projects. … And then they eventually pitched a project that went through, and NCL greenlit, and I assume that’s what they’re doing now—by all accounts, it is.” —
Liam Robertson

We joked for a moment before he more seriously said that, based on his discussions with sources at Nintendo, he doubts that Retro is working onMetroid Prime 4.

“I don’t think Retro wants to do [Metroid Prime 4]. … I’d be surprised if Retro themselves pitched [that]. I think they’ve had their fill of Metroid. … And if it is Metroid, then it will be something different—like maybe a 2D one, or something—different from Prime.” —
Liam Robertson

I then asked him whether they could be working on multiple projects at once—a question many Nintendo fans have been speculating for a while—and whether their new project could be a new IP or one of Nintendo’s storied franchises.

“I think they have the potential to work on multiple projects, but I feel like the money isn’t there. People don’t realize it, but Retro is one of the priciest studios for [Nintendo] to maintain, and I can’t see them letting them do two projects at once. As far as I know, they have one NCL producer with them right now, and I couldn’t see this person overseeing both of them; I think this person would be doing one.

“… And you were saying, ‘could it be an original property?’ I think, actually, the time is now for Retro to do an original property. They’ve done two established Nintendo franchises, they’ve done Metroid and Donkey Kong, and I think now is the time to let them take hold of the reins a bit more for themselves and do that. And I think if it is something that they pitched themselves, then that does make it more likely that they pitched something original.” —
Liam Robertson

We then questioned whether Retro Studios would be making a game more in-tune with Nintendo’s current offerings, like they did with their latest twoDonkey Kong Country games, or whether they’d do something more Westernized, like a Witcher or Uncharted-type game more akin to their direction with Metroid Prime. Robertson explains that a Westernized type of project is probably a safe bet, considering their work on Metroid Prime, as well as several projects they developed for Nintendo before settling on Prime, which included a vehicular combat game, an outer space combat game, and an American Football game.

For more fascinating information from our time with Tamaki, you can check out the full episode, which you can find either on iTunes, or embedded directly below—this discussion begins at about the one-hour mark. You could alsosubscribe to our YouTube channel, where we’ll be posting more of these discussion snippets throughout the coming week. And do be sure to stay tuned here on the site for more.

I first played Donkey Kong Country before even turning three years old, and have since grown into an avid gamer and passionate Nintendo fan. I started working at Zelda Informer in August 2012, and helped found Gamnesia, which launched on February 1, 2013. Outside of the journalism game, I'm an invested musician who loves arranging music from video games and other media. If you care to follow my endeavors, you can check out my channel here: http://youtube.com/user/pokemoneinstein
I was rummaging through some things a while back and found my first grade report card. My teacher said, "Oddly enough, Colin doesn't like to write unless it's about computers or computer-type games. In his journal he likes to write about what level he is on in 'Mario Land,' but he doesn't often write about much else." I was pretty amused, given where I am today.
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